Casillas wins the Golden Foot Award

The award was handed this Tuesday night in Monaco, where the goalkeeper left an imprint of his hands

Iker Casillas won the 2017 Golden Foot Award, awarded since 2003 to a footballer who has been playing for, at least, 28 years. This is the 15th edition of the award, which can only be won once and aims at distinguishing not only the sporting achievements, but also the personality of the footballer. This is the first time that someone playing in Portugal receives the award.

The goalkeeper succeeds his old friend, Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, and will thus have the right to have his hands engraved on the Champions Promenade, in Monaco. Prince Albert II offers his High Sponsorship to this award, which is decided by online voting (closed on October 6), after the initial nomination by an international panel of journalists.

Casillas faced the competition of Manuel Neuer, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Arjen Robben, Thiago Silva, Luis Suárez, Yaya Touré and Andrea Pirlo. Each year, three to six Football Legends (former Dragons Madjer and Deco are included in the list) are also honoured and, for 2017, the chosen are Roberto Mancini, Michael Owen, Marcel Desailly, Oliver Kahn and Li Ming. The gala takes place this evening, at the Meridien Beach Plaza, in Monte Carlo.